1. The Changing Earth
Chapter 1: Plate Tectonics

2. Section 1.1
Earth Has Several Layers

3. Earth is made up of materials
with different densities.
 Theory: Earth began as a spinning mass of rocks
and dust 5 (16?) billion years ago.
 Explosions from comets and asteroids, and
pressure of Earth’s gravity, produce enough
heat to melt materials inside Earth.
 Dense material sank to the Earth’s center, less
dense material moved toward the surface,
forming Earth’s layers.

4. See Page 10

5. See Page 11

6. Earth’s layers have different
properties.
Earth’s Layers
Layer Composition Temperature Thickness
Inner Core solid metals 7000-8000°C 2400 km
diameter
Outer Core liquid metals 4400-6100 °C 2300 km
thick
Mantle heated rock 870-4400 °C 2900 km
thick
Crust Cooler rock 0-700 °C 6-70 km thick

7. Continued
 Earth’s crust and the top of the
mantle form the lithosphere.
 The lithosphere sits on a layer of
hotter, softer rock in the upper
mantle called the asthenosphere.

8. The lithosphere is made up of
many plates.

9. Continued
 The lithosphere is split into large and
small slabs of rocks called tectonic
plates, which fit together like a jigsaw
puzzle.
 Most large plates contain both continental
and oceanic crust.
 Tectonic plates provide evidence of
continental movement that supports the
theory of Pangaea.

10. See Page 13

11. Section 1.2
Continents Change
Position Over Time.

12. Continents join together
and split apart.
 Alfred Wegener proposed the theory
of continental drift in early 1900’s
 All continents were once joined and
gradually moved apart (still moving).
 Fossils, studies of ancient climates, and
rock formations provide evidence.
 Africa and Brazil have matching rock
formations indicating they were once joined.

13. Wegner’s theorized that all the continents
were once a single landmass.
See Page 16

14. Wegner used fossil evidence to support
his continental drift theory.
See Page 15

15. The theory of plate tectonics
explains how plates and their
continents move.
 Wegener’s theory and sea floor maps
were used to develop the theory of
plate tectonics.
 Along spreading centers in the sea
floor, melted rock rises through
cracks, cools, and forms new crust
that builds up mid-ocean ridges.

16. Continued: Mid Ocean Ridge at Spreading Center

17. Continued
 Old crust gets pushed aside and the
sea floor slowly spreads apart.
 Earth DOESN’T get larger because
oceanic crust is destroyed along
deep-ocean trenches, where the
oceanic plates sink into the
asthenosphere.

18. See Page 18

19. See Page 19

20. Section 1.3
Plates Move Apart

21. Tectonic plates have different
boundaries.
 Plate boundary: where the edges of
two plates meet
 Divergent Boundary: occurs where plates
move apart, usually found in the ocean
 Convergent Boundary: occurs when plates
push together.
 Transform Boundary: occur when plates
scrape past each other.

22. Divergent Boundary
Convergent Boundary
Transform Boundary

23. The sea floor spreads apart at
divergent boundaries.
 Mid-ocean ridges and rift valleys
occur at divergent boundaries in the
ocean.
 Mid-ocean ridges form the longest
mountain ranges on earth.
 Most contain a rift valley along their
center.

24. See Page 23

25. Continued
 Earth’s magnetic poles have switched
places several times.
See Page 24

26. These magnetic reversals are caused by changes in Earth’s
magnetic fields. Bands of rock record periods of magnetic
reversals. As molten material cools, magnetic minerals line up
with the magnetic field. When it hardens, the minerals act like
tiny compass needles.
See Page 24

27. Continents split apart at
divergent boundaries.
 Divergent boundaries on continents
produce rift valleys.
 Magma rises through cracks and forms
volcanoes.
 As rift valleys grow wider, continents split
apart.
 If the valley continues to widen, the thinned
floor sinks below sea level.
 It may fill with water to form a sea or lake.

28. See Page 26

29. Hot spots can be used to track
plate movements.
 Hot Spot: an area of volcanic activity
that develops above where magma
rises in a plume from the mantle.
 Can be used to measure plate movement
because it generally stays in one place as
the tectonic plate above it moves.
 Can provide a fixed point for measuring
the speed and direction of plate
movements.

30. The Hawaiian islands are located in the middle
of the Pacific Plate. The largest island, Hawaii,
is still over the hot spot.

31. When the plate moves on, it carries the first volcano away
from the hot spot. Heat from the mantle plume will then
melt the rock at a new site, forming a new volcano.
See Page 28

32. Section 1.4
Plates
Converge or
Scrape
Past Each
Other.

33. Tectonic plates push together
and form three types of
convergent boundaries.
Continental-
continental collision:
Two continental
plates collide,
crumpling and
folding the rock
between them.
Mountains could
form.

34. Continued
Oceanic-oceanic subductions: two oceanic
plates collide and the older, denser plate sinks
beneath the top plate, forming deep-ocean
trenches and island arcs.

35. Continued
Oceanic-continental subductions: an oceanic
plate sinks beneath a continental plate, forming
a deep-ocean trench and volcanic coastal
mountains.

36. See Page 32

37. Tectonic plates scrape past each
other at transform boundaries.
 Two plates move
past each other in
opposite directions.
 No crust is formed
or destroyed.
 Occurs on the sea
floor and on land.

38. The San Andreas Fault is a transform
boundary and moves about 1 inch per year.

39. Boundaries are
formed when
tectonic plates
move. The
direction of the
movement
determines the
type of
boundary.
See Page 35

40. Comparing Boundaries
Divergent *plates move apart *in ocean and on
land *produce mid-ocean ridges, rift
valleys, volcanoes, earthquakes
Transform *plates move past each other in
opposite directions *in ocean and on
land
Convergent
C-C Collision
*crumples and folds crust * produces
mountains, earthquakes
Convergent
O-O Subduction
*older, denser plate sinks *produce
deep-ocean trenches, island arcs
Convergent
O-C Subduction
*oceanic plate sinks under
continental plate * forms deep-ocean
trench, volcanic coastal mountains

41. The theory of plate tectonics
helps geologists today.
 The plate tectonics
theory enables
geologists to
understand how
Earth’s continents and
ocean basins formed.
 Helps scientists
predict earthquakes
and volcanic activity.